NSSBA Responds to "Raise the Bar" report and recommendations

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 - Halifax, NS – On Wednesday, February 7, 2018 the Nova Scotia School Boards Association sent a formal response to the report by Dr. Avis Glaze to the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Premier.

The response outlines concerns with the review process and aspects of the mandate that were not thoroughly addressed. The response also highlights important information that was provided to Dr. Glaze, both verbally and in writing, but was either not read or consciously ignored in the report.

"We felt the need to provide feedback to the Minister and the Premier, and challenge assumptions underlying the report," said Hank Middleton, President, NSSBA. "Specifically, we highlight alignment between the work school boards have already done on behalf of students and the recommendations made by Dr. Glaze. We also advise government and Nova Scotians on important information that was provided to Dr. Glaze but was ignored in her report."

The response document identifies what was missing from the report authored by Dr. Glaze, including work previously done by the NSSBA and individual school boards in response to recommendations made by the Auditor General in 2015. Also omitted from her report is any reference to a second literature review entitled: School District Size and the Impact of Changes to Governing School Boards: An Abbreviated Report. This paper includes an overview of the enlightening experience in New Brunswick, which would presumably be very relevant to Dr. Glaze’s recommendations.

"In this response, we review five years of resolutions through which the NSSBA called on the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development to make improvements in a wide variety of areas," said Mr. Middleton. "These resolutions covered areas such as collaboration, multi-year funding, capital planning, and asked the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development to work with us on clarifying the roles of governing school board members."

The NSSBA supports the need to monitor the implementation of the recommendations. "In speaking to his acceptance of the recommendations, Minister Churchill committed to ongoing and integrated program evaluation," said Mr. Middleton. "We hope that Nova Scotians will hold the government accountable for this commitment, as it would have been the role of the governing school boards."

Responding to "Raising the Bar" - a letter from Hank Middleton

In October 2017 the provincial government announced that Dr. Avis Glaze, an education consultant from Ontario, would conduct a review of the administrative education system in Nova Scotia. This review was to look at all of the pieces from the classroom to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

At that time, the Nova Scotia School Boards Association along with the eight member school boards came out in support of this review. After all, it had been 20 years since a similar review was done of system structures. We expected change. We were not advocating for the status quo. We want our students to do better, our communities to thrive, and our young people to stay in Nova Scotia. However, we were very clear in asking the democratic, local voice remain in place with governing school boards. We did not know if this would mean amalgamation, but we certainly did not expect total elimination of the English school boards. To add a level of irony to this whole situation, many of Dr. Glaze’s recommendations actually came from the Nova Scotia School Boards Association, individual school boards and superintendents over the years. Yes, that’s right – the people who wanted changes to strengthen and improve the are now being removed.

I make the point of identifying the “English school boards” because as a minority language school board, the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are very happy the provincial government and Dr. Glaze respected that when they decided to leave CSAP with its governing school board.

For the seven English regional school boards, their voices will not remain. In Nova Scotia we are very proud to have elected African Nova Scotian school board member seats, and regional seats for First Nations school board members. This makes us unique across the country and is seen as a model other jurisdictions in Canada want to emulate. While the government maintains that these voices will still be heard through other mechanisms and organizations, we counter that by saying that’s not good enough. Gone will be the opportunity for these communities to sit around a regional table and have an influence over the delivery of education for students in their areas. Gone will be the advocates at the regional level for these students. Gone will be the people from their communities to push for their success.

Dr. Glaze cites low voter turnout and high numbers of acclamations as reasons to eliminate the English governing school boards. For years, all levels of government have battled these problems but this is not a reason to eliminate a democratically elected voice to support students. It simply isn’t. The public’s right to participate in a democratic process will now be gone in public education.

Some people may say that governing school board members are only upset because of losing a “job”. This could not be further from the truth. For one, it’s not a “job”, it’s a public service and one that every school board member feels honoured to fill. Governing school board members are at those tables for the students. They spend hours poring over data, working with superintendents and senior staff to identify areas for improvement, and hearing from community members about what their children need. There are times when certain issues may motivate people to run for school board come election time, but narrow agendas quickly dissolve when they realize how large the system is, and how these positions are responsible for all students in their region.

School boards have working relationships with School Advisory Councils, and appreciate the dedication and efforts these volunteers make. However, it is not a model that can replace governing school boards. For one, those are advisory roles, not governing. This model essentially takes all local decision making away from communities and puts it entirely into the hands of the provincial education bureaucracy . This will not help student success or communities. Every region in the province is unique, which is why every governing school board was in place to address that uniqueness. We are whole heartedly in favour of equity in education, and yes, students should have access to programs and services regardless of where they live in Nova Scotia. However, they should also have access to people who understand the different challenges and opportunities in their regions, and who can respond accordingly. This cannot be done at a provincial level with "educrats".

Governance is not exciting for most people. It’s not as tangible as classroom supports and teachers in front of students. We realize that. However, good governance creates a system where those things can thrive. Policy development and implementation, budgets, oversight and accountability are all pillars of good governance. The Nova Scotia Auditor General identified areas for governing boards to improve upon, and we were actively doing that. The Nova Scotia School Boards Association, with the support of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, were literally on the cusp of rolling out a “Made in Nova Scotia Approach” to school board governance. It was a blend of coherent and generative governance. What does this mean? Well, it focused on increased transparency and community engagement. It would have improved the system greatly, but the opportunity to demonstrate this was taken from us.

On Monday school boards received their marching orders. No policy changes, no major decisions can be made. We have been put on hold, and were told to stay that way or risk action by the Minister. We believe that Nova Scotians should not accept this assault on democracy and public education. Now we wait to see how things unfold when Legislature returns on February 27, 2018.

Loss of community voice in public education

NSSBA responds to Dr. Avis Glaze report and recommendations

Dartmouth, NS – On Tuesday, January 23, 2018 Dr. Avis Glaze presented publicly her report and recommendations on school administration in Nova Scotia.

Hours before the public release, NSSBA President Hank Middleton, school board chairs and superintendents were brought into a meeting with Dr. Glaze to receive the report. Included in her recommendations is the elimination of school boards in Nova Scotia, with the exception of the charter protected Conseil scolaire acadien provincial.

Below is a statement from Mr. Middleton:

“We were shocked at the recommendation to eliminate the seven English speaking school boards, effectively eliminating the local voice of education for our communities. We understand people do not always know the details of what governing school boards do, or how we work with school board staff, but the reality is, we are the public voice in public education. Students, families and communities connect to their education system by way of their governing school board members.

Governing school boards have been asking for many of the changes recommended in this report, some for many years. To say that school boards are not in-touch with the needs of education is absolutely incorrect. We have been asking for things like changes in the Hogg funding formula, more classroom supports, an improved capital planning process, and greater collaboration with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Local, non-partisan voice is very important to our public education system. The NSSBA is very supportive of School Advisory Councils, however, they are not a replacement for governing school boards. If SACs take on a governing role, we would effectively replace seven school boards with over 300 micro-boards.

The elimination of school boards means moving from an educational democracy to an education bureaucracy. These recommendations are just that – recommendations. It is our hope that the Minister agrees there is a need for a local, democratic voice in public education. We look forward to speaking with him about this.”

The release of the report and recommendations today came without news of how changes will be adopted by the provincial government. A meeting with the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development is scheduled for tomorrow, Janyuary 24, 2018.

Education System Administrative Review - Response from NSSBA President

OCTOBER 11, 2017 - Halifax, NS – On Wednesday, October 11, 2017 the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development released the terms of reference for their “Education System Administrative Review”, being carried out by Dr. Avis Glaze. The President and Executive Director, along with school board chairs and superintendents met with the Minister and Dr. Glaze to discuss the upcoming review and provide feedback on the terms of reference.

Below is a statement from Hank Middleton, President of the Nova Scotia School Boards Association.

“During the provincial election the Liberal party identified the review of school boards as a priority for them. At the Nova Scotia School Boards Association’s Annual General Meeting, the membership adopted a resolution addressing the proposed review. We acknowledge that it has been 20 years since the last review of school boards in Nova Scotia. We also recognize that the landscape is changing in our province as student enrollment declines, and needs increase. The NSSBA and school boards called for any review to be open, transparent, research-based, and carried out by an external professional.

Drivers Reminded to Stop for School Buses as Students Return to School

Number of school bus red light violations during the 2016-2017 school year alarming

August 31, 2017, Dartmouth, NS – With students heading back to school next week, drivers are being reminded to watch for school buses. Over 80,000 students travel by school bus every day, and their safety depends on all road users.

Nova Scotia School Boards Adopt Resolutions Calling for Collaboration

HALIFAX, NS: At the Nova Scotia School Boards Association Annual General Meeting on May 27, 2017, school board members adopted 13 resolutions on a variety of topics. Resolutions adopted by the membership at the AGM come from member school boards, and are often calls to action to support public education and local governance.

Hector Montgomery Award Presented to Kenneth Gaudet

The NSSBA Montgomery Award was established to honour the founder of the association, Hector Montgomery. Each year this award is presented to a school board member to recognize outstanding board member service.

This year’s recipient of the Montgomery Award is Kenneth Gaudet from the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial. For the past 14 years, he has served as President of his board.

Kenneth has worked tirelessly to advance French education in Nova Scotia. Through his work as a teacher and superintendent at the former Conseil scolaire Clare-Argyle School Board, he contributed greatly to education in southwestern Nova Scotia. Kenneth was also Executive Director of the French Language Branch at what was formerly the Department of Education.

Upon his retirement, Kenneth continued using his expertise to help CSAP students across the province succeed.

Policy development is one example of Kenneth’s dedication to education. He often volunteers to draft policies for the committee that undertakes this task. This involves countless hours of research and writing, but Kenneth is more than happy to perform the work. He has also undertaken a review of all board policies.

Editorial from President Hank Middleton

For 63 years school boards have come together at the provincial level through the Nova Scotia School Boards Association (NSSBA) to strengthen the non-partisan, local community representation for public education. Over the years countless Nova Scotians have served as school board members to support students by providing oversight and holding the system accountable.